If the details put you in a trance, here's a translation: The trains you rode weren't always safe.

It's also not reassuring that this information surfaced only because we asked for it. Hearst Connecticut Media gathered the reports under the Freedom of Information law. Transparency can build trust moving forward. An official with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which did the inspections, stressed that the defects do not mean the trains are unsafe.

"We would never allow an unsafe operation to function, and Metro-North has been very responsive to mitigating the exceptions and defects identified during our inspections by reducing the speed of trains when necessary," said Kevin Thompson, FRA's associate administrator.

At the same time, he reveals that his agency's 2013 inspections uncovered five times as many issues per 100 miles of track than they did in similar inspections of other commuter railroads. But the FRA's pattern of inspections has fluctuated wildly month to month. In 2013, they did five in January and 89 in December. So they are hardly in position to say they would not have found even more defects if they held more inspections. The blame can't rest only with Metro-North.

Marjorie Anders, a Metro-North spokeswoman, said "It's FRA's role to find defects and it is our role to fix defects."

That's convenient reasoning, too, like restaurants letting food spoil until a health inspector calls them out. Metro-North is ultimately responsibility, even if there were failings in the oversight department.

Other watchdogs share some of the burden as well. State Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, reacted to the inspection details by saying "I'm outraged, but I'm not surprised." She shouldn't be surprised. She is, after all, the ranking member of the General Assembly's Transportation Committee.

James Cameron, the veteran watchdog for commuters, echoed Boucher's reaction: "The FRA reports are shocking, but not unexpected."Cameron, who served for almost two decades on the Connecticut Metro-North Rail Commuter Council, says he was never able to get an answer from the Department of Transportation on how it evaluated the railroad's performance.

That's a lot of finger-pointing, but we are left to question the ultimate effectiveness of everyone involved, including the FRA, the Transportation Committee and the commuter council. The DOT did not respond with outrage when we sought comment on the reports. As Cameron also experienced, they did not respond at all. We still need answers, and it should not take FOI requests to get them The question is simple: Why?

Why did any of this happen? How could a culture of neglect thrive when security at airports was at a peak in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001?

Given the complexity of the railroad's operations, we suggest regular independent review of the inspection process.

If Metro-North's infrastructure is to be repaired, there can be no blame dodging. It's not just steel that needs fixing. This culture of neglect must be acknowledged and changed. These deficiencies are numbing, but must not lead to paralysis.